Natinixwe: The Hupa People' details tribal life

On Saturday, Feb. 23, from 2 to 4 p.m., the Grace Hudson Museum will host a free presentation and opening reception for its new exhibit,?"Natinixwe:?The Hupa People." The exhibit is curated by Bradley Marshall, regalia-maker and member of the Hupa tribe. Marshall will be giving a special illustrated program beginning at 2 p.m. in the Museum's public room on Hupa history and culture. The Grace Hudson Museum's new exhibition showcases historic photos of the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation community during the 1940s and 1950s taken by Ernest (Ernie) Leland Marshall Jr., Bradley Marshall's grandfather. In addition, regalia created by Bradley Marshall will be on display, along with paintings by Hupa artist Loren Lavine.

The Hupa tribe lives in the northeast corner of Humboldt County on the largest reservation in the state of California. The Trinity River flows through the middle of the valley they inhabit; the river's semiannual salmon runs are still an important part of Hupa people's lives. They have been unusually successful in maintaining and preserving their lifestyle and traditions in an era of rapid social and cultural change, when loss of tribal history and culture has been common in other parts of the state.

Ernest Marshall Jr. (1913-1961) was a founding member of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Government (one of the first successful self-governing tribal structures in the nation) and a photographer whose thousands of prints provide a diverse portrait of the lifestyle and traditions of the Hupa people. These include compelling photographs of ceremonial dances such as the Brush Dance and the White Deerskin Dance. While it is usually forbidden to take photos of the dances, Ernie Marshall was given special permission to do so by the dance leaders of the time.

Intricate regalia is worn by the participants in these ceremonies, requiring a vast array of natural materials that are carefully gathered and painstakingly prepared for use. These include such things as clam shells, deer hide, bear grass, leather, abalone, pine nuts and numerous types of feathers, including those from the California condors, which used to fly above the Hoopa Valley.

"My father always told me that when you are making something, you have to be in a good place," curator and regalia-maker Bradley Marshall comments. "You have to have good thoughts, because what you're feeling, whatever you're experiencing, it will show in your work?. And with the pieces I create, I know they are going to outlive me. A life span is pretty short, when you think about it. But the pieces I'm creating I know are going to be here, be used, for several generations.?I was taught that a piece of regalia is not alive until it is danced. Or you could say that the spirits that were in the animals that I used come back into the piece and form a new life. One of the things that I've always been told is that regalia that I make, I don't own. I'm just a holder. The holder is almost like a parent with a child?It's my responsibility to house them, to make sure that they're maintained.?And then it's my responsibility to run that regalia all over, wherever the dances are going on, wherever it's supposed to be, it is my responsibility to make sure it gets to that place."

"Natinixwe: The Hupa People" opens on Feb. 16 and runs until May 12. ("Natinixwe" is pronounced "Nah-tin-ah-way.") Museum Director Sherrie Smith-Ferri will lead a tour of the exhibit, free for docents and Museum members, at noon on Tuesday, Feb. 26. This exhibition is sponsored by West America Bank, Mendocino Striders, and the Sun House Guild.

The Grace Hudson Museum is at 431 S. Main St. in Ukiah and is a part of the City of Ukiah's Community Services Department. General admission to the Museum is $4, $10 per family, $3 for students and seniors, and free to members or on the first Friday of the month. For more information please?go to?www.gracehudsonmuseum.org?or call 467-2836.